The Mayors of New York City and San Francisco announced Friday that they're co-hosting meetings in the Fall and early next year to examine the "best practices" that lead to tech-enabled economic growth. The meetings are ... Read More

As Nick Bilton noted last night, the Mitt Romney campaign plans to test out Square for fund-raising at a Florida event tonight. A spokeswoman for Barack Obama's re-election campaign told us yesterday that Obama campaign staffers and select volunteers around the country would be getting the devices, which attach to mobile phones and work as credit card readers, as well as custom software that collects the information necessary for donations to be compliant with Federal Election Commission requirements.

The Obama campaign is outfitting campaign staffers and volunteers with Square credit card readers and custom software to allow them to collect donations using mobile phones.
Square card readers plug in to the headphones jack of a mobile phone. In conjunction with apps available in the App Store for iPhones and on Android Market for Android devices, they can be used to process credit card payments from the phone. But in order to comply with Federal Election Commission requirements, campaign donations need to come with information the stock Square software isn't equipped to ask for, like the donor's employer and occupation. That's why a custom app, specially built for the Obama re-elect by the campaign's own under-the-radar development team in conjunction with Square, is available to people using this setup for the re-election effort, campaign spokeswoman Katie Hogan told me.
Update: Now with screenshots!
(h/t Byron Tau at Politico, who had this item first.) Read More

When Stephen Colbert walked out of a Federal Elections Commission meeting where the FEC gave him permission to form a "super PAC" and promote it on his show, he had a credit card swiper on hand, ready to collect ... Read More

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